Most automobile owners are lax in maintaining the maintenance schedules recommended by the automobile manufacturers. One reason for this is that there does not appear to be any device on the market which serves readily and conveniently to inform the driver of the next maintenance mileage point, and of the various items which are due for servicing at the next maintenance point. An important objective of the present invention is to provide such a device. It is intended that the preferred embodiment of the invention be provided with a pushbutton switch which, when actuated, will cause the mileage at which the next maintenance is due to be displayed, as well as the various items to be serviced at the next maintenance point.
Most car owners are also lax in maintaining records throughout the life of the vehicle as to the actual maintenance performed on the vehicle. However, such records are most important in determining the value of the car for re-sale. The unit of the present invention may also provide a permanent record of all maintenance performed on the vehicle throughout its lifetime.
As mentioned above, the unit of the invention is also capable of storing other useful data relating to the vehicle, such as the identity of the original dealer and subsequent servicing establishments, as well as other data relating to the vehicle. A selector switch may be provided to enable the user to refer not only to the mileage at which the next maintenance operations are to be performed, but also the mileage at which the last maintenance operations were performed and the items serviced at that time. The unit of the invention, insofar as the embodiment to be described is concerned, is relatively inexpensive, and it is compact and light, and is extremely easy to program and to operate.
The binary data relating to any item to be serviced at a particular mileage includes a control bit which designates by its logical state whether or not the particular item was actually serviced. Any item not serviced at a particular mileage maintenance point may be carried over to the next mileage maintenance point as an additional item requiring service at the next maintenance point.
The unit of the invention is intended to use the normal vehicle power source, although it may incorporate its own power source, if so desired.